I am travelling to the US in October onthe America's Golden West tour.

I wondered if you could help with some of my queries below:

1. Will there be someone (a rep) to meet us at the airport - I am flying from London Heathrow. And do we sit together with the other travellers beforehand or do we just get to meet on the plane/at destination?

2. I notice on the way home we fly from SF airport - is this correct, as I thought the tour ended in Las Vegas?

3. Can you provide any advice with regards to money? A friend who travelled to the US advised I take some cash in dollars ($300) and then withdraw money at ATMs. Is this possible on say with Switch/Maestro cards or Mastercards? I prefer this option as it saves having to cash in travellers' cheques? However, I would be most grateful for some advice, with regards to the best form of money to take and how much, so I have sufficient for food and excursions (so excluding any additional spending).

I look forward to hearing from you.

Thanks for your questions.

1. You will be meeting the other passengers in the executive lounge before departure so you will know at least a few friendly faces before you fly. Tour managers usually fly out with the group but not always, depending on their schedules.

2. The tour does indeed finish in Las Vegas and you will fly back from there to Heathrow via Chicago.

3. Your plan with spending money sounds sensible. ATMs are plentiful but tell your bank you are going to the USA as sometimes cards are blocked for foreign currency otherwise. Visa and mastercard usually work - but check with your card company to be sure. Do take some dollars too. It's hard to say how much you will need exactly. Excursions could cost anything from $50-$1,000 depending on how many of them you want to do. As for food, American meals are usually good value and pretty substantial, so you could get by on $20-30 a day. As with the excursions, though, you could easily spend more if you fancied splashing out. I would take about $500 to start with, and withdraw more from ATMs as and when needed.

Hope this helps - and that you have a wonderful holiday.

Cheryl, your editor